by admin | May 24, 2023 | Gone With the Wind
On Wednesday, May 24, 1939, Victor Fleming directed Vivien Leigh and Leslie Howard in the pivotal paddock scene also known as the “Orchard Love Scene.” To recap: Needing $300 to pay the taxes on Tara, Scarlett seeks advice from Ashley, whom she finds splitting rails...
by admin | May 5, 2023 | Gone With the Wind
On Saturday, May 6, 1939, Sam Wood directed Vivien Leigh in “Scarlett’s Return to Tara.” Realizing that her mother is dead, Scarlett screams her shock and grief and collapses at Ellen O’Hara’s bier. A parallel to this heartbreaking scene...
by admin | Apr 28, 2023 | Gone With the Wind
In April 1939, producer David O. Selznick recognized that the grueling pace of filming Gone With the Wind was taking a toll on his cast and crew, especially director Victor Fleming. On April 14, Selznick confided in a memo to executive staff that Fleming “is so...
by admin | Apr 3, 2023 | Gone With the Wind
Clark Gable had finally had it with the Gone With the Wind wardrobe made for him by the Selznick International costume department. The shirt collars choked him, and the suits and cravats were ill fitting. He complained to producer Selznick, who, in turn, spoke to...
by admin | Mar 13, 2023 | Gone With the Wind
On March 13, 1939, David O. Selznick wrote a memo to Production Manager Raymond A. Klune concerning the dramatic use of color in Gone With the Wind’s costumes. The producer impressed upon Klune that the costumes should symbolize “the changing...
by admin | Mar 3, 2023 | Gone With the Wind
This year marks the 81st anniversary of Casablanca, my #2 all-time-favorite film. This 1942 Humphrey Bogart-Ingrid Bergman classic appears on many lists of the greatest films of all time, as does my #1 all-time-favorite film, 1939s Gone With the Wind. Over the years,...
by admin | Feb 25, 2023 | Gone With the Wind
To replace George Cukor, Selznick approached Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM) contract director Victor Fleming. Fleming was not interested in taking over the directorial reins of the troubled Gone With the Wind. At the time, he was manic with Munchkins on the set of The...
by admin | Feb 13, 2023 | Gone With the Wind
On February 14, 1939, when technical adviser Susan Myrick arrived on Gone With the Wind’s set, she took one look at the gloomy faces of crew members, watched them whispering in small groups and realized that something was going on. She asked assistant director Eric G....
by admin | Jan 31, 2023 | Gone With the Wind
Clark Gable was born on February 1, 1901 in Cadiz, Ohio, to William H. Gable, a wildcatter in the oil-drilling business, and Adeline (Addie) Hershelman Gable, a farmer’s daughter. Sadly, Addie died nine months and thirteen days after her son’s birth. In April 1903,...
by admin | Jan 25, 2023 | Gone With the Wind
On Thursday, January 26, 1939, director George Cukor yelled “Action,” and Gone With the Wind‘s principal photography began. The opening scene he shot that day turned out to be one of Gone With the Wind‘s jinxed scenes. Vivien Leigh in her green sprig silk muslin dress...